Bank myna

Acridotheres ginginianus

Common name:

bank myna (en); mainá-ribeirinho (pt); martin des berges (fr); miná ribereño (es); ufermaina (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Sturnidae

Range:

This Asian species is found from eastern Pakistan across the Himalayan foothills to eastern and southern Nepal and Bhutan, and southwards to north-central India and Bangladesh. It has been introduced to Japan and the United Arab Emirates, where it has spread to several neighbouring countries, including Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Size:

The bank myna is 22-23 cm long and weighs 64-76 g.

Habitat:

This species is closely associated to man-made habitats, often being found inside cities and in agricultural fields. They are common in refuse dumps and in open countryside with cattle, favouring wetter areas where it forages along the banks of rivers or irrigation canals.

Diet:

Bank mynas are omnivorous, often feeding in large flocks. They forage on grain, namely sorghum, grape and pearl millet, but also take fruits and insects including crop pests such as Achaea janata. They take a variety of small animals includinf frogs, snails and earthworms and also scavenge on the ground amongst people in busy markets or at refuse heaps, and in rural areas it is often found following ploughs to feed on upturned insects. They also regularly settle on the backs of cattle to remove ticks from them.

Breeding:

These birds breed in May-August. The nest is built with grasses feathers and refuse, at the end of a long, narrow tunnel excavated in earth walls, on the banks of rivers, embankments or the sides of open wells. They will sometimes make use of holes in brick walls. There the female lays 4-5 pale sky blue or greenish-blue eggs which she mostly incubates alone for 13-14 days. Both parents cooperate to feed the chicks, which fledge from the nest 20-22 days after hatching. Each pair may raise 2 broods in a season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common to fairly common in most of its very large breeding range. This population is suspected to be increasing as ongoing habitat degradation is creating new areas of suitable habitat for species that are well adapted to man-made habitats, such as the bank myna.